Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie but I remember it very well. Indeed, it was the first movie directed by Peter Jackson that I had the pleasure to see and I really loved the damned thing. The first time I watched it, I must have been 13-14 years old and I had definitely never seen something similar before. I mean, such a combination of horror and comedy was quite unknown to me at that point. Above all, the nastiness, the over-the-topness of the whole thing was just really impressive. I remember watching this thinking 'How could they get away with this?!?' but, then, a scene even worse would show up and it kept going on and on... Back then, I watched it many times and it became a huge cult-classic for me and my buddies. It was the last time Peter Jackson made something in this genre and I wonder if he'll ever do again something similar in the future but I highly doubt it which is too bad. Anyway, to conclude, even though it seems to be rather forgotten nowadays, I really loved the damned thing and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Peter Jackson’s work. 

I have always been a huge fan of [Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see]and since this movie was his last classic I still haven’t watch yet, I was really eager to check it out. On top of that, it was apparently Hitchcock’s favorite movies so I was expecting a lot from the damned thing. Well, to be honest, I was rather amazed by how little I actually cared about this movie. I mean, sure, it was still a decent thriller but I really couldn’t see what was supposed to be so amazing about this feature. Indeed, during the first half, nothing much really interesting happened and it took the damned thing forever to take off. Then, in the second half, it started to become slightly more entertaining but it was too little, too late. Basically, the main idea is that the ominous Uncle Charlie goes to his relatives and the viewers are supposed to be charmed by this sweet family living in this nice little town. Well, to be honest, I didn’t care much for them. Furthermore, I never really understood their fascination and obsession towards this Uncle Charlie. I mean, they haven’t seen him for years, they have no idea what he has been up to and it doesn’t seem that he has done anything really amazing for them in the past. At least, I have to admit it, Joseph Cotten gave a strong performance and he had some very nice chemistry with the lovely Teresa Wright. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn’t really work for me, it still a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Alfred Hitchcock’s work. 

[Link removed - login to see]To be honest, when I first heard of this movie, I thought it sounded really lame and the only reason I decided to check it out anyway was only because I had a weak spot for Keira Knightley. Indeed, except in Great Britain, who was able to understand what the title actually meant? Furthermore, a football movie chosing David Beckham, easily by far the most overrated footballer that ever existed, as a role-model was rather hopeless and pathetic from the very start, at least, as far as I was concerned. So, I have to admit that I was prejudiced even before the movie started but, eventually, I still had a hard time to care about the damned thing. I have to admit it, Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley were both quite charming and they did their best with this rather weak material but it was just not enough to make this tale really entertaining. I mean, sure, I’m positive that the makers meant well with this story but, in my opinion, it was just seriously generic and predictable. To conclude, even though I might have been a little bit harsh with my rating here, I thought it was rather weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you really like the genre. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I saw this movie and maybe I should check it out again at some point. Apparently, River Phoenix was a huge fan of the book and was linked to this project for a very long time but, eventually, when it finally got made, Phoenix thought he was then too old to play the main character so DiCaprio took over (the fact that Phoenix passed away in the mean time didn’t help either, I guess). Anyway, following his great performance in ‘What's Eating Gilbert Grape’ (in fact, after all these years, I still believe that it is still his best performace, by far), it is in this movie that DiCaprio would get his next leading part. Actually, it would be pretty neat to see this movie after all these years and to compare it to what the guy has done recently. Furtheremore, since then, I have seen some very powerful movies dealing with the same subject (above all ‘Christiane F.’ and ‘Requiem for a Dream’) and I wonder if this movie would still have the same impact if I would re-watch it nowadays. Anyway, to conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, I really liked the damned thing a lot and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I actually already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, I’m glad I gave it another shot. Indeed, the first time around, I thought it was just so lame and, in my opinion, it was one of the worst serial killer thrillers I had ever seen. However, with this re-watch, I was able to see that there was actually some interesting stuff in this flick. Indeed, the copycat concept was not bad at all and I have always been intrigued by the agoraphobia which was fairly well developed in this movie. Furthermore, I was actually quite impressed by Dermot Mulroney and Holly Hunter who delivered one of the most interesting police partners I have seen in a very long time. Finally, it is very rare that you get to see not one but two strong female characters and, just like Holly Hunter, Sigourney Weaver also gave a solid performance. Unfortunately, pretty much everything else in this movie was just seriously average. Indeed, it was rather hard to care about this killer who was just copying some other famous killers and the guy was just not charismatic enough. Furthermore, like most of the movies in this genre, the whole thing was just so convoluted, I wish they kept it more simple, it would have worked so much better. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was not as bad as I remembered, it was still pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre.